


Into the Abyss

by ManaMachina



Series: My Blue Girl [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-29
Updated: 2012-10-29
Packaged: 2017-11-17 08:29:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/549596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ManaMachina/pseuds/ManaMachina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James Vega and Liara T'Soni are nothing as the other thought they would be.  The more they learn about one another, the stronger their connection grows.  A grueling trial by fire and a myriad of misunderstandings threatens to tear their friendship and growing attraction apart before it even begins.  </p><p>Can what they survive make them stronger?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "Whoever battles with monsters had better see that it does not turn him into a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." Friedrich Nietzche.

“This is loco!” Lt. James Vega yelled at the back of Commander Shepard. Major Alenko seemed to agree with him, but all three men knew that it was a statement without any actions to back it up. He was a mouthy hijo de un cabrón, but he wasn’t disobedient.

Let’s face it. They were making away in a damned warship that could have made a difference to Earth, while people were dying down there and the planet burned, and he was sailing away to God knew what. But he had heard the orders from Admiral Hackett himself (higher on the food chain than he ever thought he’d hear). He got into his armour, he piloted the shuttle. His voice remained strained and angry, and he felt even more helpless than he had on Fehl Prime.

He muttered about the dust storm and got his first taste of Kaidan’s sardonic humour. Since he been guarding the Commander, he’d learned a thing or two about the man. One was that the Commander was a damned good poker player. The other was that he held held quite the torch for the Major. A couple of glasses of Mescal, and the Major was all Loco could talk about, actually. It came as a surprise, given how he’d talked about him, to see Kaidan give him that much grief over Cerberus. And some of the shit he was saying...it wasn’t even remotely possible. Paranoid even...

Then they were coming into the bay and they were hearing something fighting in the ceiling. Raising his assault rifle, he was ready for the next fight. He wasn’t ready for a small, lithe Asari to burst through the duct work. Nor to watch her easily disarm her pursuers with a skull-tingling biotic singularity. He really did not expect to see her put a perfect shot through their chests with an easy flick of her wrist and pull of her trigger finger. When she shot both in the face after they fell, just to make sure they were dead, he didn’t know whether he was scared or aroused by the dichotomy of her beauty and obvious skill.

“It’s okay. She’s with us,” Shepard said, seeing James’ hands still were holding the rifle, but assuming it was because he was confusing her for an enemy, and not because James suddenly as tongued tied as a teenager trying to ask his first date to prom.

Liara. Her name was Dr. Liara T’Soni. Doc, he thought. I’ll call her Doc. For once, it wasn’t because he would need help remembering her name, but he didn’t think he’d be able to say her name without it sounding like a sleazy come on. Now, Loco was sending him out to the Shuttle. He was reluctant to leave. Damn but didn’t her armour hug her curves. He got in the elevator and when the doors closed hit himself in the head. “Get in the game, pendejo!”

***

Liara was running for her life through ductwork, like one of those cheesy earth vids Joker used to insist she watch back on the first Normandy between missions. As she broke free and saw the familiar face of Shepard, and the surprising one of Kaidan, she was relieved. It made it that much more urgent for her dispatch her pursuers and reassure herself that her old friends were alive, despite the destruction on Earth. She didn’t register the third man of the group at first. Except that he was large. Massive. Next to him, Liara felt the size of a child, and she was used to large humans.

However, she was so focused on her mission, she didn’t register anything else about him but his intimidating size and obvious strength. He was, what was the expression, probably just a grunt. He certainly looked like he’d be a match for a genetically perfect Krogan, at any rate.

They fought, she educated them, they fought more. She watched Shepard stand up to the Illusive Man. She watched Eva Core run away with the data she needed. Finally, she watched as it appeared the mission was a failure, before seeing the Alliance shuttle slam the Cerberus one to the ground. As she watched Lt. Vega exit as if nothing had happened, she was at a loss for words, and didn’t have time to ruminate on it either, as Kaidan was beaten nearly to death, and she was forced to snap Shepard out of his state of shock.

***

She spent most of the time on the trip the Citadel calling contacts and making arrangements to have her gear delivered as soon as they landed. Once Kaidan was in the hospital and they were done with the Council, she would have so much to do. She watched Shepard trying to hold himself together. She was naive, but not so naive that she had ever missed the affection between the two men that, for sake of either crew or career, they had put on hold for so long.

For career, she could certainly understand! Liara had done little else except grow up Matriarch Benezia’s daughter, then the Strange Dr. T’Soni, then she one of the heroes of the Battle of the Citadel. For two years she had hunted the Shadow Broker in order to make him pay for Feron, waiting to see if Cerberus had been success using the body she had recovered to bring her friend back to life. 

And it worked. Shepard was back, saving the day. Helping her, yet again, when she’d misjudged a tool and nearly gotten herself killed. He helped her rescue Feron. He helped her defeat and become the Shadow Broker.

For all her information, the Reapers were still here. She’d found something that could help, but in the end, she couldn’t help Shepard convince the Council to go for it. She walked out of the meeting disgusted, in tears of frustration. 

As she stormed towards the elevator, she heard a deep voice articulate “Hey, Doc.”  
Liara’s crests tingled with the sound, like someone was tickling her. It was so absurd! Normally, she could suppress the Asari trait of feeling sounds as well as hearing them. She must have been so upset she lost concentration. She looked and saw Lt. Vega was leaning his large frame against the wall to the right of the elevator door. She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, yet somehow managed to release a few more tears.

James moved with far more grace than a man of his size should have been able to. He swept an arm around her shoulders and moved her around the corner, to a sit on a couch that faced out at the Presidium. He seemed to be standing guard, and afforded her the privacy to get herself back together, not even looking at her.

“I take it that meeting with those pendejo politicians didn’t go so hot?” He muttered.

Liara felt that tingle again. She looked up and saw Vega had his arms crossed, making the muscles of his back bulge. His massive neck was turned so he could look down at her with the corner of one eye. She shook her head and sighed. “An understatement,” her voice was a little higher with tears; a little younger. 

She gathered herself together, wiping away at her cheeks and stood. As the material of the couch creaked, Vega turned around, arms dropping from crossed to clasped behind his back. “You okay now, Doc?”

“Yes, thank you. We did not have a chance to introduce ourselves properly,” she held out a hand, as she had often seen Shepard.

“You’re Dr. Liara T’Soni,” he said, looking down at her ridiculously tiny (compared to his own) hand. He briefly placed his hand on top of hers. To be honest, this was as close as Vega had been to an Asari in a while. And the other...well, he didn’t want to think about that right now. “I hope you don’t mind if I call you Doc. Nicknames are sort of a thing for me. I’m Lieutenant James Vega. You can call me whatever you’d like,” and he bit down on his tongue to stop himself from saying ‘or whenever you’d like.’

Her eyes opened a little wider and she tilted her head in curiousity. “All right then, Lt. Vega,” She began to wring her hands thinking about her equipment being loaded on the Normandy. “I should see to my things on the ship. I will see you later.”

She nodded politely and walked to the elevator. James walk passed it on his way over to the other windows, just to have a chance to watch her walk away. It was such a dick, pervert move. After a few minutes mentally berated himself, the Commander walked over and they began to speak.


	2. Chapter 2

“Oh no! No. Palaven,” Liara said mournfully, looking at the vid screen. 

The planet seemed to be on fire, and there were dreadnaughts cut into pieces. Shepard intoned softly. “We have an old friend there.”

James had been enjoying the ride in the shuttle as a passenger. He didn’t know if he’d ever live down crashing the shuttle. Loco had certainly given him a round, though, during their dance. Made him feel somewhat more settled about the idea of staying and fighting on the ship. And settling his past if he could. When he heard the two talking, he took a look for himself. “Holy hell!” he exclaimed. “They’re getting decimated.”

“Strongest military in the galaxy and the Reapers are obliterating it!” Shepard sounded angry, not concerned.

“Was it like this on Earth?” Liara asked softly.

“Yeah.”

“Shepard, I’m so sorry,” Liara started wringing her hands. She understood from Shephard's voice and the look on James’ face that it was actually worse on Earth. Like they said; the Turians had the strongest army. If they were barely making a scratch...

They landed and cleared the zone, making their way to the barricade. James was yet again impressed by how capable Liara was. His experience with Asari was more along the lines of watching their dancers in clubs, not watching them destroy Reaper troops with a combination of biotic power and amazing small arms skills. She seemed as stoic as a monk as she obliterated anything and everything in her path. When a husk tried to engage her in melee, she pushed it away with a field so strong the thing exploded into component atoms. He empty a shotgun into the face of a cannibal with an amused smirk.

They went to the barricade and learned about the comms being down. Both Liara and Shepard seemed on the verge of asking about their Turian friend, but concentrated on the mission at hand. They needed comms up to get a report on the next Primarch, and that’s just what Loco was going to do.

They fought their way through the husks, James using his favourite shotgun at such close quarters. He loved it. He loved the battle, the rage, the blood. He was born for this. This was what he was good at. he should have back on Earth. But he was here. This is where the Alliance told him he was supposed to be, so here is where he was fighting. They finally reached the comm tower. He personally dispatched the last of the husks surrounding it, with a bark of triumphant and defiant laughter.

Shepard was already working at the panel. “Dammit! We can’t repair it from this panel,” he didn’t hesitate a moment. He looked to the delicate Asari standing next to him in her white armour and ordered “Liara, see if you can repair it.”

James looked up at the tower while Loco was speaking. He saw that the person that was repairing would have their hands full and would need to balance, and make on the fly adjustments. It looked like more Reaper troops were headed their way even as they discussed it. Whoever was up on that ladder would be completely defenseless.

Because of that, he felt even more respect for the little Asari as she said with no fear “I’ll go up and have a look. If you could keep husks from climbing up behind me, I’d appreciate it.”

It’s wasn’t a smartass remark. It was a request, like “could you grab me a beer while you’re in there”. He felt the blood rushing in him. Yeah, he’d keep her safe. The wave of protective energy fed his battle lust. He heard and felt the troops being dropped. “Here they come,” his voice happy, deadly.

“Ready, James?” The Commander asked with the same battlelust in his voice.

“Hell yeah,” James said, switching to his assault rifle. “Let’s take ‘em!” He wasn’t going to let one of those cabrones get within a metre of the Doc.

More husks and cannibals landed. Rifle fire, burnt carbon, heat and blood and rage. It all moved so fast and so slow at the same time. Life and death were all around them as the heat sinks popped and sized on the ground. More were coming. James was in love with this rush. The only love he’d ever have, he thought when his senses were clear to do so.

In a lull in the battle, he registered the sound of the comm tower whirling. He saw Shepard nodding, and figured that the Liara had told him she was finished repairing the tower. He expected to see her run over. Instead, she landed with a biotic field beside him, gun raised and firing, taking out a husk some distance away. “Glad you’re on our side, Doc,” James chortled, as Shepard told the General that comms were back online. The soft smile Liara gave him before her battle face returned would come to haunt James in his off hours later.

The rest was a blur of battles and fast action for James and hacking for Liara. James was impressed by Garrus. Scars, he decided. Right off, he could tell they’d be buddies. Their senses of humour matched. And from what he’d heard from the Commander, so did their pasts. The flanging sound of the Turians voice cut deep as he looked up at the sky, seeing his old home burn. James understood that pain from the inside out.

They found the Primarch, told him of his “promotion” got him about the ship. It was all politics now. The blood was cooling down. The ship was heating up, it turned out, as EDI took that robot body and repossessed it. Heh. He liked that one. While he worked at the mod bench on his assault rifle, he heard the elevator land, and raised an eyebrow to see who it was.

It was Shepard and Liara. “James,” Shepard said coming over. “Come on, we need to prep the gear. Cerebus is after some Prothean device on Eden Prime, and we’re going to liberate it.”

“Fuckin’ A!”

Liara tilted her head. “Not even I get excited enough to do that with Prothean artifacts.”

James would normally have had a quick comeback, but faced with her teasing smile, he just stuttered. Loco rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the side, trying not to laugh. Cortez, who had just taken a mouthful of coffee, sputtered and turned to the side so he wouldn’t spray it all over his terminal.

“James, are you...blushing?” Shepard asked. Behind them, Cortez exploded into a new round of laughter.

“Damn, Doc. You got me good,” James said, good naturedly. “That whole sweet scientist thing is a total sham. I’m on to you now!”

Liara’s smile soften, and she looked down with a shrug. “I have obviously been spending too much time with Joker,” she murmured demurely.

Shepard began to discuss strategy. James was listening as intently as he could, trying to ignore his embarrassment. What the hell, pendejo? He asked himself. She makes one innuendo and you’re tongue-tied? He was momentarily distracted from his brooding by Liara. He could feel her eyes on him. He tried to look casually, just a glance. She was looking at him through her lashes. She mouthed the words, “I’m sorry”, and smiled. James felt like his stomach turned upside down. What the hell was it about the Doc that had him feeling like a niño tonto? She turned her smile to Shepard and the magic was broken. James could breathe again.

But he still stood up straighter and made a point of flexing his muscles, just in case she looked again.


	3. Chapter 3

Eden Prime; where it had all began. Liara was concerned about how Shepard was taking it all. She touched his armoured arm gently before they disembarked. She felt him trembling, but it ceased with her touch. He put a hand on hers and squeezed in thanks. She smiled at her friend in return. They adjusted their weapons, and hopped out of the shuttle. It was far too quiet. No one was greeting them. Not civilians, not Cerberus troops. Shepard motioned for them to keep weapons out, move slowly, cautious sweep from building to building.

As they approached the inside of one building, Liara saw an open terminal. She used a quick Cypher app on her omnitool to break into it. “Shepard,” she whispered. “There’s data here that could help the colonists resist Cerberus. I believe I should gather all I can; have Glyph decrypt and broadcast it.”

“Do it,” he replied quietly.

Holstering her weapon, Liara began going from terminal to terminal, cracking them. Sometimes frowning, others nodding, as her fingers flew over the interface. James lagged behind for a few seconds, watching her. It was the second time he’d seen her unarm herself to take care of something that could only help others in a hot zone. He shook his head. He wondered what she felt she had to prove.

Shepard motioned James to check the next building to the left, while he started towards the right. “What about the Doc?” James asked him through the comm.

“Liara can take care of herself.”

“Yes, sir,” James frowned. He knew that he just...

“There, Shepard!” Liara said. Her eyes were lively, her tone full of curiosity and wonder. “There’s the elevator. It will bring up whatever artifact they found.”

She left the building, running up to the control panel. As it rose, she scanned the other data. “Goddess,” she felt herself grow pale as the blood drained from her face. “Goddess, it’s not a Prothean device, it’s a living Prothean!”

“What the hell?” James asked. “Like a Collector?”

“No,” Shepard said a the pod came into view. “These look the lifepods on Ilos.”

“Precisely. Except Vigil had shut those down. This one still has power,” Liara told him. She scanned it with her omnitool. “Oh, no. Cerberus has damaged the pod in their attempt to open it. Life signs are beginning to fluctuate. We have to get it out of there!”

“Let’s open it up,” Shepard replied without hesitation. He didn’t need to tell James or Liara how a living Prothean could help them in making the device.

“No!” The doctor said swiftly. “No, we must find the correct wakening and opening sequence. Without it, we’ll damage the pod and kill the Prothean.”

“Then let’s get looking.”

Cortez came to them over the comms, giving them a quick warning about incoming forces. James was ready to kick some ass. Liara pulled her gun. A biotic barrier covered her in an instant. Her face was determined. He had no idea how much she hated Cerberus. As they moved up, looking into the buildings, taking down Cerberus troops, she still took the time to scan each terminal for data for the colonists. Yeah, she was dedicated. 

Shepard ran around the prefab building to get into a flanking position, while James escorted the doctor so he could help keep Cerberus off her while she gathered the data and looked for answers to the lifepod. As she worked on one terminal, he was shooting at an engineer, keeping in cover beside the door. Liara had laid her gun on the desk beside her. 

“There must be something important on this terminal. It’s locked tighter than the others,” she muttered to herself. 

“Whatever you’re going to do, Doc, do it soon. This cabrón is setting up a turret,” he laid down more fire to try and distract him.

Liara looked out the door. She moved her hand and sent a singularity out to the engineer. Both he and the turret lifted from the ground, the turret spinning into life, taking out the engineer, and wounding a centurian. She smiled grimly as she turned back to her cracking of the terminal’s security. James was able to fire at the turret to kill it, and the resulting explosion finished off the stunned centurion.

“Nice shot, Doc,” he said, taking a moment in cover to wipe the sweat off his brow.

“Thanks I...I’ve got it! The research data we need is in two different labs. Shepard,” she said. “I am uploading the coordinate.”

“Great. I just got the last of these bastards.” 

“Oorah!” James shouted.

Liara picked up her gun, turned to James and said, “Follow me.”

“Anything you say, Doc,” He flashed her a wicked grin.

He could have sworn Liara was turning a deeper shade of blue as they rushed to the first of the prefabs that held the lab data they needed, meeting up with Shepard. Liara activated the controls, but only static seemed to play on it.

“Perhaps,” she murmured. “they encrypted it?”

“Eh, just give it a kick,” Vega answered. 

“I know how to open the pod,” Shepard said with a shake of his head.

“What?” They both asked.

“The message. You couldn’t understand that?”

Liara looked at the screen. “You could?” The static was gone. “Huh. It must be the cypher.”

“What cypher?” James asked. They filled him in on the events of Feros. “Okay, so one down, let’s get...”

“Cortez to Shepard. Things are getting pretty hot out here again. I think they’re dropping more troops.”

“All right,” Shepard checked his thermal clip. Liara raised her barrier, and James set his face in a blood-thirsty smirk.

Liara sent them the nav point of the next lab they needed to check out. “We should split up and flank them. I’ve given Glyph enough information to help the resistance fight Cerberus off the planet, so I can concentrate on the fire and Lt. Vega doesn’t have to babysit me.”

“Heh,” James snorted.

Shepard nodded. “Right. Go!”

Running through different exits, Liara cleared the path by laying down a singularity. She ran right through the corridor it opened, doing a diving roll passed a guardian who wasn’t affected by it. She managed to get behind him before he could turn his shield and she fired a point-blank shot through one of his eyes. She sent a push to the soldiers being fired at by Shepard stuck in the singularity and sent them off the nearby cliff. A shot bounced off her firm barrier, and she fired at the startled engineer that was trying to kill her and set up a turret with equal measure of failure.

She saw James out of the corner of her eye advancing on a guardian and she sent a push to knock the shield out of his hand to assist the marine. The fight went on and on. Finally, all slightly out of breath, they reached the next lab. Liara bypassed the door lock and they went inside. Shepard activated the monitor. Another burst of static, and he said, “I know the waking sequence, let’s move!”

As they left the prefab lab, they saw the bridge had been pulled back by Cerberus. “Dammit! Find another way around,” Shepard ordered, jumping down to walk along the edges. “This way!”

They reached the lifepod without further resistance, but as soon as they started the wakening and opening sequences, Cortez called out “Heavy mech incoming!”

At the same time, more troops landed. “Take cover!” James hollered out.

This battle was trickier than the others, but they felt they had a slight advantage; that Cerberus wouldn’t risk the lifepod’s destruction. They dodged shots from the atlas, and fired their weapons and powers at the troops as they seemed to keep coming. As Liara ducked into cover to swap out thermal clips, she got an urgent call from Glyph.

“Dr. T’Soni,” his electronic voice pipped.

“I’m busy, Glyph!”

“Urgent information, Doctor. I was monitoring Cerberus communications with the information you provided for the resistance. The atlas pilot has special orders to destroy the lifepod if falling into enemies hands.”

Liara felt the blood drain from her face. That’s why they were dodging the attacks so easily! It was only getting in position. In a position to fire its missiles. A position it was now in perfectly. “No! Glyph, tell Shepard what you just told me. Now!” And she jumped up and rushed the lifepod.

Shepard and James both watched as Liara rushed out of cover. “Doc, what the hell?” James screamed. He’d never actually believed when people said time could freeze on the battlefield, but that’s exactly what it seemed to do as Liara jumped in front of the lifepod and created a barrier field at the same time a salvo of missiles launched from the atlas directly towards her. She knelt there, face defiant, facing down the oncoming death. James couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. Later, he’d reflect that hadn’t seen anything as gorgeous as her face, completely devoid of any fear, putting herself on the line without a single second of hesitation. 

James was next to Shepard and heard Glyph’s information. The missiles hit Liara’s barrier and exploded. For an agonizing few seconds, neither man knew if her barriers had held. When the smoke cleared, they saw her still kneeling there. Still looking just as defiant.

“Shepard!” She called over the comm. “Lt. Vega. I’m going to hold this barrier here. Finish them off, quickly.”

James and the Commander nodded at each other and rushed to take out the remaining troops. Liara watched them from behind the barrier, weakening slowly until they succeed in destroying the power supply of the atlas with a well timed shotgun blast from Vega. When it exploded, it took out a shuttle, and the remaining forces.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Liara let the barrier fall. She shook her head to try and clear it still on her knees. Lt. Vega was there faster than she thought someone of his size could move. “Easy. Let me help you up,” he held out a massive gauntleted hand. Liara took the offered hand and rose unsteadily to her feet. She nodded in thanks, making eye contact. She saw a brief flare behind his eyes.

James fought the urge to rub his thumb over her trembling hand. What the fuck, pendejo? he asked himself. “Good work, Doc,” he said instead, dropping her hand.

When the pod finished beeping, Shepard opened it, and they met a 50,000 year old refugee...


	4. Chapter 4

Once Javik had settled in, and Liara got the shock of several lifetimes dealing with him, they made their way to Grissom Academy. Shepard wanted Vega with him for dealing with heavy Cerberus resistance, and Liara for dealing with the biotics. She had complete files on all of Shepard’s actions during the Collector attacks. She was especially proud of what he had done for David; sending him to the academy. She understood the desire to make sure he was okay.

They landed and killed several troops, getting in to see Kaylee Sanders, and getting the intel about the children of the Academy that were left. As they walked into the next room, they saw a kid being pulled along by Cerberus troops. Liara heard James swearing in Spanish.

“Voy a matar a esos hijos de puta!”

She didn’t blame him. It felt like a knife in her womb, seeing terrified children. She was suddenly angry enough to actually try to flay someone alive with her mind. “Easy, you two,” Shepard said sharply. They were both flaring. James’ angry was palpable; Liara’s biotics surrounding her.

As they came around a corner, they saw Cerberus troopers in front of a boy with a decent barrier up. “We have orders to take you alive. Your sister, on the other hand,” One of them said.

“Oh FUCK no,” Vega said, unloading an entire thermal clip divided between the two troopers.

Shepard came over to the boy. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re here to help. Lie here and play dead until it’s safe, then take off for the security station. Kaylee Sanders is there, okay?”

The boy nodded and whispered, “My sister! You have to find my sister.”

James put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I promise you, chico, I’ll find her. She’ll be safe.”

Liara was startled by a blush. She put a hand over her abdomen where it was jumping with a fluttery feeling. Nerves, she decided. They moved into a classroom, just a little ways away from where it opened into a new hallway. Looked like Cerberus had set up a shield generator there. Without warning, a girl, probably not more than fourteen tore through hallway, screaming, followed by three Centurions.. 

One of the Cerberus centurions raised his gun to fire as the girl passed by the three of them. James reached out to grab the girl, turning her around and activating his shield, using himself like a physical barrier. The troops began to fire on him, the full brunt of their blasts hitting his armour. Liara strengthened her barrier and sent a biotic push against the centurions. As they staggered back, Shepard finished them off with his assault rifle. When the troopers were dead, they moved to where James was holding the frightened girl.

“It’s okay niña,” His voice was soft, gentle. She was sobbing in terror, clinging to his armour.. “Everything is going to be okay. We’re here now. They won’t hurt you.”

Liara watched as he rocked the girl, a hand on her hair. He continued to speak in English and Spanish, soothing her for a minute before she took several deep breaths and got herself back under control He gently stood her up. “Do you know the way to the security station? “ The girl nodded. “Okay, mi niña valiente. You make your way there.”

The girl looked up at James, smiled, and said, “Thank you for saving me.”

He ruffled her hair and pulled out his shotgun. When she was out of earshot, Liara heard him hiss, “Entrando a matar a estos cabrones lento.”

The heat of his anger was distracting. It was making Liara feel a deep ache of sympathetic anger and something...else that she couldn’t place. She shook her head, and motioned to the men. “This way, I think I hear something.”

They moved into the hallway, which was empty, save for scorch marks, the stink of burnt carbon. As they carefully moved, Shepard heard it first. “This way,” he whispered. They moved to where there was a couch in a corner. “It’s okay, you can come out.” 

They heard a whimpering. Liara looked over the couch and saw the young human girl. “It’s okay, little one. Your brother sent us. We’re not with Cerberus. Look, I’m an Asari.”

The girl looked up and nodded a little bit, rubbing her tears with her hand. “Is-is he okay?”

Liara helped the girl from behind the couch. “Yes. Head to the security station. We’ve cleared the way,” the girl hurried off.

Liara leaned for a moment against the wall. She was breathing heavily. “Hey, you okay, Doc?”

Liara looked at him. “Asari...we have a very strong maternal instinct...this...they’re killing children!”

James reached out a hand and squeezed her shoulder gently. “Come on. They’re not going to get away with this, Doc.”

Liara nodded, straightened up and checked her thermal clip. “Let’s go.”

Shepard raised an eyebrow. He turned around and led them up the hallway. Once they’d disabled the generator holding back the comms, they moved into the commons where they helped Jack defeat the Cerberus troops, the rest of the mission went by in a flash of battle and rage. They met with David and the reunion was bittersweet as he recognized Shepard as his saviour. Finally, they were able to evacuate the entire group of students with only one injury. However, they’d lost a few of them, and that weighed heavily on all their minds.

That night, Liara couldn’t sleep. She was restless, angry, boiling with rage, even. Children. They had only been children! She threw down the datapad she had been working on and put on some loose pants and a supportive shirt. “Glyph, I’m leaving my omnitool up here. I need to go and work out. Please call me over the comms if necessary.”

“Yes Dr. T’Soni,” the VI responded cheerfully.

Down in the shuttle bay, the lights were low everywhere but in the area Vega had set up his little gym. Liara didn’t actually look there. Instead, she walked with her bare feet into the middle of the bay, flaring her biotics. She began to perform a set of stretches and fighting moves, similar to what humans did called Tai Chi and yoga combined.

James couldn’t sleep either. He kept picturing that girl, crying against him as he took the blasts to the back. He was still bruised where they’d tried to pierce his armour. If he’d been slower, she’d be dead! 14 year old girl dead. He was about to reach for his stock of heavy booze when he heard the elevator. He watched as the Doc went into the middle of the room, his eyes bugging out. 

He’d never seen her without her armour. In her loose pants and tank top--and did she ever fill it out--Where was his mind going with this? Then she began to move. Her body twisting and contorting in blue energy. He’d seen many an Asari dancer, but none of them could compare to this. It was sexy without being erotic, and he felt like he had been punched in the chest. He fought the urge to rush in and kiss her. Get a hold of yourself, pendejo! He told himself.

“Nice moves, Doc,” he said, breaking the silence of her movements, repeating what told her on Eden Prime.

Liara’s flare died down. “I...thank you, Lt. Vega. I didn’t realize you’d still be down here.”

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“Me, either,” She smiled. “Would you care to spar?”

He stretched out his muscles, flexing them, showing off. “Hell yeah.”

They took up their stances and began to move. James had reach, but Liara had flexibility, as Garrus might have said. Liara was able to avoid all his large movements, and bounce away quickly. She giggled as he cursed. Boxing, however, was just one style he knew. And not the most powerful. He got her with a feint, rushing her and knocking her down with a fast Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu move. She was on her back, and his body partially covering her in an instant. 

Vega's face was a few inches above hers. Both of them were breathing a little heavily. James was thinking about how unbelievably blue her eyes were. Only the ocean was that colour blue. He'd never seen it anywhere else. Her eyes, her face, her lips. Dios, her lips. He licked his own, eyes clouding over with lust.

Liara was looking up at James, and the signs of his sudden shift were not lost on even a virgin such as herself. She felt her pulse quickening. Her hand on his shoulder dug in just a little. She resisted the urge to trace with her fingers the path his tongue had worked when he licked his lips. She felt him shift, a hardness against her thigh. It thrilled her to her core. Yes, she wanted this...

They had just began to tentatively close the distance between their faces when the comm beeped. "Dr. T'Soni? Agent Feron is checking in.”

James bounced up and held out a hand at once. What the fuck was he just about to do? Kiss the Doc? Kiss the insanely powerful biotic who could crush him with her brain? Damn. That VI of hers probably just saved his life.

Liara took the offered hand with her shaking one. She turned and began to walk to the elevator. Once there, she turned her head and looked at Vega. Smiling shyly she said, “Thank you for the ‘dance’.”

Once the elevator door closed, James adjusted suddenly too tight pants and muttered, “Think I’ll go have a very cold shower.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Hey, Scars,” James said the next morning getting coffee.

“Morning, Vega,” came the flanging reply. James bit his lip. “Something on your mind?”

James shrugged. “Just, uh,” How could he word this? “Sort of wondering. About the Doc.”

Garrus mandibles twitched. “Liara?” He made a whistling sound. “What brought this on?”

Overwhelming urge to sweep her up in my arms and... “Just curious, is all. She doesn’t talk much about herself.”

Garrus wasn’t buying his put on innocent, but he’d play along. “Well,” He closed his eyes for a minute, gathering his thoughts. “She’s a scientist and...”

James waved him off. “No, I know all that shit. I’m talking about her.”

Garrus’ mandibles twitched again. “Look, Vega. I think you’re an okay guy, but you’ve got to understand about Liara. She’s got a lot on her plate. If you have intentions...”

Vega gave him a dangerous look. Garrus raised his hands and splayed his fingers. “Hey, listen for a second. She’s might be over a hundred Sol years old, but in Asari terms, that’s like being in her early twenties. For all that, she was the daughter of one of the Asari’s most respected leaders. A leader, I might add, that nearly handed victory to the Reapers three years ago. She spent two years hunting the damned Shadow Broker, killed him, and took over his job. She’s watched good friends die. She’s...”

Dios! James thought. “She’s been through Hell.”

Garrus nodded. “Yeah, she has. Look, just...don’t get your hopes up, Vega. I’ve never seen her show interest in anyone. I doubt she ever will. Not after Noveria.”

“Noveria?”

Garrus twitched. “Yeah, I’m not talking about that. Alliance has files. See ya later, Vega. I have calibrations.”

James bit his lip. He took his coffee cup and walked over medical. Saying a quick hello to Dr Chakwas, he headed into the server room and shut the door. He picked up a datapad. “Hey, EDI, mi bella?”

Her soft voice responded immediately. “Yes, Mr. Vega?”

“Can I get any and all reports on the events on Noveria when the Commander was there three years ago?”

“Certainly. One moment.”

Once the info was pushed to the datapad, James sat on the counter at the back of the server room. He read about what had happened, Geth, the Rachni, and finally, Liara’s mother, Matriarch Benezia. He pulled up the official death record. He had to read it several times. “Death was caused by small arms fire from the weapon of Dr. Liara T’Soni”.

James looked away from the datapad and stared off into space for a few minutes. No wonder Garrus hadn’t wanted to talk about it. If Liara was still in her early twenties by Earth standards now, and this had happened three years ago...what had she effectively been; 19 or 20? James found himself shaking. He felt a rush of warmth in his chest. Adrenaline, protective instinct, rage that she had been put in that position. All he wanted was to go and hold her.

“Shit,” He said, shakily. 

***

It was days later, after they had picked up Mordin and Eve. Liara was walking through the Presidium to go and talk to her father. Her father. It was still hard to believe, but Shepard was right. It did help now. Besides, she’d been given an entire company of Asari commandos. What better gift could a father give her daughter? She saw Shepard and headed over to him. “How’s Kaidan doing?”

“He’s...” Shepard’s omnitool beeped. He activated it. “Yes?”

Immediately, the air filled with the sounds of screaming people. “Commander, it’s Cortez. I’m down at the refugee shrine. You have to get down here, Commander. James has been shot.”

“What?” Liara screamed. She turned and began running towards the elevator, followed closely behind by Shepard.

They rode down the elevator in silence, Liara wringing her hands and pacing, Shepard watching her with a raised eyebrow. He’d never seen her respond to anything like this. Ever. Finally the elevator landed. Liara sprinted out of it and called out for Cortez. The pilot waved them over, to where several C-Sec guards were restraining a screaming woman, and James was sitting, glassy-eyed, on the floor, bleeding from his left shoulder. 

“Commander, Dr. T’Soni,” Cortez said. “She just grazed him, but he’s...”

“Murderer! What was it worth you son of a bitch?” the woman was screaming. “What the fuck was it worth you scumbag? You get a fucking promotion for leaving them to die and what the fuck did it save? Earth’s dead. We’re all dead! At least I could have spent the last year with my husband you piece of shit! You hear me? Do you hear me Lieutenant Vega?”

Commander looked like he was ready to spit fire. “Get her out of here!” He screamed at the C-Sec officers just holding her. 

They mumbled a reply and dragged the still-screaming woman out of earshot. Liara knelt down and applied medigel to James’ wound, which wasn’t serious at all. One application would be all he’d need. At least to fix the physical damage. Wherever James was right then, it wasn’t on the Citadel. 

“Lt. Vega?” she asked softly.

Above, Cortez told Shepard what had happened. “She just came out of nowhere. One second, James was coming over to pay respects to Robert with me. The next, she was screaming and waving a gun.”

“Vega!” Liara said in despair. Shepard and Cortez were pushed aside by the massive wall of muscle as James ran towards the elevator.

Shepard started to run after him, but Cortez, helping Liara up, shook his head. “No, Commander. Let him. He’s just going to blow off steam.”

Shepard looked unconvinced. “I hope he doesn’t do something stupid.”

“This is James Vega we’re talking about,” Cortez said, anxiously.

“That’s precisely what I mean.”

***

“He’s been here for six hours, Shepard,” Aria said, looking up from her red leather perch at him, Cortez, and Liara. “I think he started by taking one shot of everything. Got pissed off when the bartender refused him Turian brandy and ryncol. Since then, he’s been drinking something called mescal. I’ll give him this much; he can drink like a Krogan.”

Liara was still wringing her hands, looking over at the table where James sat, surrounded by empty bottles. Aria shot her a very straight look. “In my recommendation, you should get your pet Asari to take care of him. He seems that type to respond better to feminine wiles. No offense, gentlemen.”

“Pet Asari?” Liara asked, biotics flaring at her fists.

“Ha! Your mother would have laid me out for that comment. But you’ve got resolve, kid. Fine. I apologize,” She made a mock bow. “It doesn’t matter. He’ll respond to you, if you ask him...sweetly.”

Liara took a deep, calming breath. “As much as I hate to admit it, she’s right, Shepard.”

Shepard and Cortez nodded, and sat across from Aria. Liara walked over to the table where James was sitting. “Hey, Doc!” he slurred, giving her a lascivious grin. “Come on and sit on me,” He frowned. “I mean, beside me here. Here, have a drink.”

Before he corrected himself, Liara felt a rush in her loins. But she was worried enough to call it embarrassment and move along. “I think you’ve had enough, Lt. Vega. Perhaps we should head back to the Normandy?”

“Oh! Want to take me to bunk, huh, Doc?” He said, standing up unsteadily. “Well, I never refuse the request of a lady. And damn if you aren’t a lady! Lead the way,” and he fell back in his chair.

Liara helped him back up and used a combination of biotics to make him lighter. They made their slow way to the ship. Vega would stop to admire things along the way, or once to relieve himself off a balcony while Liara prayed to the Goddess C-Sec wouldn’t walk by. She was determined to see him in medical to be watched over. With this much alcohol in his system, who knew what would happen.

She sat him down at the table in crew quarters. She looked into the medical bay. Mordin was in there, working away. “Dr. T’Soni, how can I help you?”

“Lt Vega got himself very drunk and I was wondering if he could stay here tonight and...”

“No! No no no no no. Feel for him, but have much work to do and too little time to do it. Can’t have him disturbing me or Eve. Have to send him somewhere else. Here,” he made up a quick hypo of something. “Give him this shot. Will counteract the alcohol. Will still need to be monitored overnight. Should be kept away from the rest of the crew. Suggest private quarters. Talk later?”

He bundled Liara out of the medical bay and locked the door. Liara blinked, looking down at the needle. “Salarians!” she muttered.

James was slumping over the table. “Hey, Doc! Why don’t we go down to the shuttle bay and dance again? I haven’t even shown you my best moves...” he leered at her.

Liara rolled her eyes. “Come on,” she lifted him again with her biotics and moved him over to her quarters.

“Oh, your place. That works for me,” James said, and began giggling.

Liara used a biotic push to get him over to the bed, where he fell flat on his face. See his rump sticking up in the air, and confused by his words, she approached him with the needle. “This is going to hurt you a lot more than it hurts me!” She muttered, lifting up his shirt and plunging the shot into the fatty tissue of his upper buttock.

“Kinky!” He said muffled by the bed. 

Liara rolled her eyes. “Spare me!”

Hours later, James’ shirt and boots were off, and he was tucked under one of her coverlets. Liara curled up on the couch with a pillow and a sheet, dressed in a long, concealing gown of loose satin. She heard a noise and woke up, expecting to see Vega trying to leave her room. Instead, she saw that he was tossing and turning. Shaking from head to toe. There were tears streaming down his face, fingers twisting in the soft cloth of the blanket.

Liara stood and moved to the bed. She touched his arm. James woke up with a start, gripping her wrist. “Lt. Vega!” She said.

“Don’t call me that!” He snarled. “Don’t you dare call me that! Blood. Just a blood reward. Killed them all. Dios! I killed them all,” and he began to sob.

Every instinct Liara had screamed to comfort him. Plying his fingers away from her wrist, she crawled into bed beside him, curling into his arms. He held her without a second hesitation, burying his face against her neck, and shook with sobs until he finally fell asleep. Shortly thereafter, still confined in his grip, Liara, too, fell asleep, with his heartbeat beating against hers.


	6. Chapter 6

Flowers and spices, and the soft sound of breathing. These were the first things James registered. He moaned softly. The last thing he remembered, he was heading to Purgatory in a blind, tortured rage of self-hatred. Where was he now? He tried to stretch and heard a female murmur. Oh shit. He thought. He opened his eyes. He wasn’t nearly as hungover as he thought he should be. He looked down in his arms. It was...

The Doc. It was Liara in his arms. She was curled up against him, little hands on his bare chest. She was fully dressed, but it could have been a night gown. Did he? Did they? And he didn’t remember a minute of it. Great. Just great. He would have to make it up to her. James rolled her over softly, gently, and managed not to wake her. She was very deeply asleep, perhaps kept up late? 

“Dios,” he whispered. Not that he didn’t want her! He’d been steadily wanting her more and more every day since meeting her. He was half in love with her. But he never wanted to be completely amnesiac from booze first time he’d been with her. What a fucking asshole he was.

He slipped into his boots, and shuddered at the smell of his t-shirt. Dammit. If he was going to make this up to her, he’d start there. Vega got up and went snuck out of her quarters, making sure no one was watching to see him leave. He didn’t want her to be awash in gossip. The coast was clear. He walked over to the elevator. He rode it down to the shuttle bay, knowing Esteban wouldn’t be down there yet, and grabbed some fresh clothes and his toiletries from his footlocker.

He headed back upstairs to the mens. Inside, he stripped off his clothes and looked at his shoulder in the mirror. It was nearly completely healed, but it brought back the memories of everything that woman shouted at him. The alcohol had numbed some of the pain. The shivering thought he’d made love to Liara banished it further. Even the thought of her was starting to get him aroused. He smiled to himself, and hopped into the shower.

The water was on full blast and hot as hell. James lathered himself up three times to get the last of the day-old mescal smell off him. Coming out of the shower with a towel around his hips, he inspected himself in the mirror. He shaved and wondered what they’d done. Had she enjoyed him? Did she do that ‘embracing eternity’ thing he’d read about? Had he told her how he felt?

Well, if he hadn’t, that was the first thing he was going to do today. Make her breakfast, tell her he loved her. He stopped, nearly cutting himself. Wait, love? He frowned, considering. But there was warmth spreading across his chest at the thought of it. Yeah. Love. Damn. Well, he’d deal with that. She was cuddled up to him. Whatever else had happened, he’d make it up to her. He finished shaving, slapped on a good quality aftershave, and got dressed. He ran back down to the shuttle bay to stow his stuff, and then back to the kitchen. 

He always kept the ingredients for his Abuela’s huevos rancheros on hand. As usual, he had a whole crowd around him as he cooked. They smelled so good, even if couldn’t get them quite right. When he’d finished, he loaded everything on a tray, and walked over to Liara’s door. He opened it and smiled as he came in, seeing her dressed and reading at her desk. Bending over her desk. Damn, but she was beautiful, at all angles. 

He was tongue tied for a few seconds, but finally said, “Hey, Doc. I made you some breakfast...”

“You didn’t have to do that, Lt. Vega,” she said. 

Her tone shot through him. He put the tray down on her table by her bed. “I mean, it was no trouble, I just wanted....wanted to thank you for last night.”

She straightened up and looked at the food. “It smells lovely. But again, no thanks are necessary. I would have done that for any of the crew in need,” And she went back to monitoring her many terminals.

James felt like he had been kicked in the balls. Oh, so that’s how it was? She’d...some kind of pity fuck? Was that what happened? He just stood there, face getting a shade paler, than darker. “Seriously?” he said out of a choked-closed throat.

She didn’t hesitate, or even look up. “Of course.”

James wanted to hit something. Hard. Repeatedly. “Well, don’t let me disturb you, Doc,” he said, pushing his way out. 

“Thank you for breakfast,” she said absently. 

James went downstairs to the shuttle bay and put his body through a grueling workout. Cortez came over to him. “Hey, man. How are you...”

“Not now, Esteban,” he said with a snarl.

Steve backed off, figuring the muscle man was probably just hungover. He was worried, though. He’d never seen James drill himself as hard as he did throughout the day. He never stopped or even slowed down.

The blood pounding in his ears. If he hadn’t been drunk, at least he would have remembered what it felt like to be with her. Dios, what if he’d forced himself on her and that was why she was being cold now? No, she would have killed him with a biotic field if he’d tried to force her, he decided. He started another rep. Another round. Burning the muscles, damaging them, building them stronger. His way of dealing with pain; make himself a wall against it.

Maybe all he told her he wanted was one night? It came down to him. It had to. He knew he could be a goofy drunk. Or maybe he didn’t understand Asari culture. It was his fault, all of it, entirely. Losing his squad. Getting shot by a widow. Getting drunk. Fucking over his chance to be with the only woman who’d made him feel this way he so long he didn’t want to think about it.

All on him.

***

Shepard didn’t know what had gone on. Liara didn’t seem to be affected by whatever it was, James seemed to be pissed off all the time. Well, okay, he’d been shot by the widow of one of his late squadmates. He cut him some slack. However, things could quickly escalate, and they did, when they were tracking what Cerberus was doing on the Krogan homeworld.

“If they take over this gun, they could shoot down any ships coming in for support. We have to stop them!” He told Liara and James both. “Liara?”

Liara pulled up her omnitool. “I have the ancient records of this place. I should be able to get the systems back online, assuming there is still power.”

“I’ll just shoot every hijoputa Cerberus I see,” James snarled. 

“Right,” Shepard agreed. “That works. Go!”

The fighting was intense. The layout was ancient, with a lot of high ground. Liara managed to distract with a singularity, and the three of them were able to get to defilade to the main control room.

“Dammit!” James growled, firing his assault rifle up the ladder. 

“We need to flank them. A distraction,” Shepard said, looking along the wall.

“Bring it on!” James said. 

Shepard’s eyes narrowed. “No. Liara,” he turned to the Asari. “How are your barriers holding up?”

Liara nodded curtly. “Perfectly. Like that time on Feros?” She said, referring to how she had run through the Thorian’s zombies to distract them so Wrex could take them out from behind, while Shepard shot out a neural node.

Shepard nodded. “You got it. Vega, once she’s got them running around, grab some cover and lob a few frag grenades up there. I’ll stay here and when they’re scattered, I’ll climb up. Follow after me, got it?”

“You’re shitting me? I should be the distraction!”

“This isn’t up for debate Lieutenant . I’m not asking, I’m ordering. Liara, go!” Shepard responded with narrowed eyes.

James didn’t reply. Liara ran out of cover, her barrier shrugging off the sudden bursts of fire. Vega didn’t want to take his eyes off of her. She would get herself killed out there! It was the most tense 20 seconds of his life before Liara called out over the comms, “Shepard, go!”

Loco nodded at James, and he backed up, tossing several grenades, as he’d been told, drawing some fire himself. Shepard clamoured up the ladder. James started to head to the ladder, but stopped when he heard turret fire. He looked around and saw Liara pinned against cover by and it and an engineer.

“Dammit! Doc’s in trouble I’m going after her.”

He pretended not to hear Shepard telling him “She can take of herself.”

He ran towards her, the only thought to get her to safety. He emptied his shotgun into the engineer. The Turret began to swing towards him. James tackled it, rolling out of the way of its wild fire. He grabbed Liara’s arm. 

“Are you okay, Doc?”

Liara gave him a mild biotic push, “I was fine. What the hell is wrong with you?” She pulled her gun, popped the heat sink, and started running and shooting to meet up with Shepard.


	7. Chapter 7

The ride back to the Normandy was dead silent. When they landed in the shuttle bay and exited the shuttle, Shepard turned on James. “What the fuck is wrong with you? I expect my orders to be followed, Lieutenant!”

James stood at attention. Liara was walking off the shuttle, looking abashed at Shepard’s lecture. “Yes, Sir. Sorry Sir. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do, to save Dr. T’Soni.”

“Dr. T’Soni can take care of herself. She’s an Asari biotic specialist. You better learn quickly not to let your feelings in the middle of battle overwhelm your judgement and trust in your squadmates. Am I clear, Lt. Vega?”

“Crystal, sir!” James said, his voice holding no disrespect, not even a shred of normal joviality.

For some reason, Liara wanted to cry. Ever since that night, James hadn’t wanted to talk to her. He just ignored her. Then, in the middle of battle, he’d tackled a turret in an effort to keep her safe, even if it wasn’t necessary. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he acting this way? Was it because she’d said she would have helped anyone in their time of crisis.

Now it was just making her angry! Treating her the way Shepard used to. Like an innocent child, and not the damned Shadow Broker. And the most frustrating thing was that it was as close as he’d come to talking to her in a week. She missed him. Missed his jokes and the way he’d smile at her. The way it had made her feel when he licked his lips and looked down at her when he’d had her pinned. She handed her weapons to Cortez, went to the elevator and hid in her room, unable to get any work done.

***

The next day, Shepard had both Liara and James in the shuttle bay. He was laying out a strategy for going after the downed Turian ship. “Liara, I want you to scout, and take out any generators you see holding up barrier fields. James, you...”

“Too risky! There are harvesters all over that damned area! She...none of us should be walking around without back-up,” James burst out.

“Lt. Vega, I’m not a child! I’m an Asari. I can handle myself on the battlefield and I certainly don’t want your protection!” Liara snapped back.

“Enough!” Shepard screamed. “Clearly, something is going on between the two of you. I don’t know what the hell it is, but until you have it figured out, you’re both staying on the ship,” Both Liara and James started to argue with him. He gave them the look that said he wasn’t to be disobeyed, a dangerous look. “I suggest you talk, or spar, or whatever you need to do to get over whatever is going on. I need you both to have your head’s on straight. Do you get me?”

“Yes, Shepard,” Liara said, straightening her back.

“Yes, Sir,” James said respectfully, but his mouth twisted into a pout. 

Once the shuttle had left with Shepard, Garrus, and EDI, Liara turned to James, crossing her arms across her chest. “What, Doc?” James said.

“What? What! You haven’t spoken a word to me since the night after your drinking binge on the Citadel. And now you’re being so overprotective, you’re getting us both kicked off missions. And you ask me ‘what’?”

James growled and turned away stalking towards his gym to work off his frustration. Liara’s eyes narrowed. She ran over and grabbed his arm with a biotic field and spun him to face her. “Dammit! Don’t turn your back on me.”

James eyes narrowed as he glared down at her, muscles tensing. Liara rolled her eyes. “Fine. Do you want to fight this out? Come on then! Let’s see who wins this round.”

“My pleasure,” he muttered with a sardonic smile, and began to get out of his heavy armour, down the t-shirt and fatigues he wore under it.

Liara undid the straps of her armoured top and threw it off, making James pale a touch as she wore only a support garment, something like a bra, underneath it. Her abdomen exposed to him. He focused on his rage. His indignation. But he couldn’t fight the flow of blood to his groin. He got into a fighting stance, she did the same.

She came at him, a rolling dive like the one she’s pulled on Eden Prime. He sidestepped it easily enough and she was thrown off balance by her punch. She steadied herself and came at him again, landing, this time, a punch to his tensed stomach. It only hurt his skin. “Come on, Doc,” he taunted. “That all you got?”

She lifted herself with her biotics and whipped a kick at his head. He bounced out of the way of it, and laughed as she landed. Infuriated by his laughter, she ran in for another punch. James grabbed her arm and held it, looking down into her defiant face. “My turn?” he asked with a smirk.

She yelled and pushed him back against the wall of shuttle bay. He never lost grip on her wrist and she went back with him. Her chest hit his own. Her body was pushed against his. She felt his arousal. She gasped. Looking up at him, she saw he was looking back at her, his eyes had that look of lust in them again. It made her feel her azure moisten, petals of her sex opening at the thought of stimulation. Blessed Goddess, she wanted him!

Looking down at her face, hearing her gasp, James was losing his mind. He wouldn’t--would not--do anything she didn’t expressly invite. He brought her hand to touch his chest and released it, she didn’t move it at first. Then she brought her other hand up and pressed it against muscles. Her body moved against his again, eyelids fluttering softly. Her fingers began to move up to his neck.

“Dios, Doc! Don’t do that unless you mean it,” his voice was harsh with need.

“You want me?” Liara whispered back. Her impossibly small, soft fingers traced along his lips.

James was completely lost. He picked her up and switched their positions, pressing her back against the wall. He pressed his lips against hers as tenderly as his ardor would allow him. Her mouth opened to gasp and moan. He darted his tongue inside, tasting her mouth, its sweetness and heat. She didn’t hesitate. She responded in kind. Her whole body shaking, legs wrapping around his waist as one of his hands cupped her face, and the other her bottom.

Liara’s fingers twisted down and began tugging at his shirt. She mewled against his mouth in frustration. James broke the kiss, long enough for her to strip the shirt off him moving his hands to support her weight against the wall, one then the other, to free himself completely. She tossed the shirt to the floor and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Yes,” she sighed against the side of his face, nibbling kisses along his jaw to his ear. “I want to feel you.”

James couldn’t breath, he couldn’t think. He was on fire with need. Every nerve felt like it was exposed. All his anger and frustration and love and fear came pouring out of him as he bit her neck gently. “You drive me insane,” he whispered hoarsely. “Need you so bad.”

Her hips were moving like a dancers undulating like a dancers. "Me, too."

James didn’t need to be told twice. He kissed her again, hands reaching for the fastening of her pants. Undone, they exposed more blue skin, black panties. Oh God. Black and blue, his two favourite colours. He put her down and knelt as he helped her out of both, first undoing her boots and sweeping them away. She reached up and undid her chest support, letting it fall from her hands so she was standing naked in front of him.

He could smell her; flowers and spices so strong. Intoxicating He kissed up along her legs, massaging her calves and thighs with his fingers, until she had her hands against his shoulders, head thrown back. He looked up. Her eyes were closed, her mouth was open. She was moaning, whimpering. He picked her up and laid her down on the cot he kept for when he was working late. She opened her eyes to look at him, need filling that impossible blue until it nearly glowed.

James opened her legs and watched her body open to him. He knew Asari were shaped different, like flowers almost. When they were aroused, it was like a rose blooming open. And she was so aroused. He felt his throbbing erection twitching at the sight of her. He began to kiss her thighs again. They trembled under his touch. She whimpered again and he looked up at her. She had risen on her elbows and was looking at him with such an exquisite look of desire.

“Please,” she whispered. “Please, I need you...I need you to...”

She reached out for the clasp of his fatigues. Her little fingers brushed him, and he knew his explorations would simply have to wait. She tugged at the belt around his waist. “Please,” she moaned. “Please, James.”

It was the first time he’d heard his name from her, and it was while she begged him to take her. James let out a possessive growl and pulled his belt away. He ripped away the fastening of his fatigues, and pushed them and his skivvies down, exposing his thick cock. Her eyes widened, and it thrilled him with pride. 

He picked her up again, settled himself against the floor, and posed her so his glans was just brushing those blue petals that had interested him so much. She was so breathtakingly wet! He looked up at her eyes, hands resting on her hips. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were black. He felt the tingle of a biotics, but it was different than anything he’d ever felt. He felt his mind sinking being pulled into her eyes. He realized what she was doing.

She whispered in Asari as she pressed down, her sex and her mind enveloping him completely at the same time.

James had expected this. It was better than anything he’d ever dreamed. His own senses felt sharpened and doubled. He smelled her, he smelled himself, and felt how much his smell turned her on. He felt her skin and his own. He felt himself inside her and...

His brow furled. He saw it on the thoughts in her mind. Never having been penetrated before, never having had sex before. Dios! She was a virgin! James put his hands on her hips, let her adjust, kept her still despite her whispered assurances it was okay. She was aroused enough. There wasn't any pain. He began to move her slowly, carefully. He found the rhythm that made her feel the most pleasure. He kept his pace steady. He reached for her breasts and began to fondle them gently. He lifted himself so he could take one of her nipples in his mouth, suckling while his hand played with the other, and taking seconds when he felt the pleasure become too much for her to switch sides. He felt her pleasure. Felt her feel it and felt his own and how she felt that, and it circled and spiraled. It was like swimming deep in the ocean. Like doing a space jump. Pressure building, circling, screaming. 

He felt her climax building. It was better than mescal. He heard her voice in his own mind. He reached down with the hand not fondling her breast to find the spot she indicated, to a bundle of nerves near her petals; from what he could tell, it was the Asari equivalent to a clitoris. He followed her instructions, brushing it lightly in circles and he felt her as much as heard her gasp as she crested and crashed over the edge of orgasm. He felt himself go with her, his pulsing release filling her as his head tilted back and he cried out her name.

He felt her mind loosen its hold on him. They were apart again. It almost _hurt_ him to be away from her mind. He wanted to always be there, sharing her senses. He sat up, still inside her, and wrapped his arms around her small body. Rocking her gently as tears of pleasure slid down her face, her breathing heavy. His lips moved, silently speaking "Mi amor,” against her neck.

When they could both breath again, James carefully disengaged himself from her. He saw his seed on her blue skin and touched it almost reverently before she lifted herself away. She got dressed as he sat there quietly, touching his tacky fingers together. Something occurred to him. 

“Doc,” he said, seeing her turn her head to look down at him. She had her pants on and was fastening her bra. “If we had sex before, how come...”

She whipped around to look at straight on. “We what?” Her voice was piercing.

“That night,” he said, frowning. “I woke up in your quarters I just thought,” she interrupted him again.

“You,” she sputtered. “You think I would take advantage of a man with so much alcohol in his system he couldn’t walk?”

James just stared up at her, dumbly. “Then it...wasn’t a one-night stand?”

Liara balled up her fist and hit him with a weak biotic push like a punch. James hit his head on the shuttle bay floor. It took him about fifteen minutes to pull himself together enough to get his clothes back on.


	8. Chapter 8

Commander Shepard walked into the Normandy lounge after his mission on Tuchanka was completed, and he was cleaned up. The room was deserted, save for James Vega, holding a bottle of booze in one hand, and leaning his head against his other arm, which was pressed against the window.

“Vega?” Shepard’s brows furled together.. 

“Hola, Loco,” Came the slightly slurred reply. He brought the bottle to his lips, moving his head to the side to get access, and drank several swallows.

“Is everything okay?” Shepard asked.

“Never better, Loco,” James pressed his head harder into his massive arm.

The Commander could see from the window reflection that James’ face was a mask of heartache. “You sure about that?”

“I’ll be fine, Commander. I promise, no more overprotectiveness of the Doc. She, uh, put me in my place.”

Shepard nodded. As turned to walk out, but stopped. “Hey, James?”

“Yeah?”

“When I talk about Kaidan, do I sound as heartsick as you do right now?”

James actually laughed. It was shaky, the kind that ended in a soft sob. “Yeah, Loco. You really do.”

Shepard stayed, and they got as drunk together as they dared. Tomorrow, they were taking on a Reaper.

***

“Okay listen up!” Shepard yelled over the Tuchanka wind. “We’re splitting into two teams. Garrus, you’ll come with me and liaison with the Turian fighters. James, you’re coming to. I’ll need a heavy hitter,” He turned to the Asari. “Liara, you stay with Eve, to keep her safe at all costs.”

“Yes Shepard.”

“This is it. For the survival of all the Krogans. We’re going to cure this damn plague, whether the Dalatrass likes it or not. Let’s go.”

The Krogans let out a roar. Liara looked at where James was standing, checking over his gear and comparing shotguns with Wrex. Liara bit her lip. They hadn’t spoken a word since the day before. She shouldn’t have left as she had. Now? Now they were going to be facing off against a Reaper and Goddess only knew what would happen to either of them. She couldn’t let it end that way, without even saying good-bye.

She walked over quietly. Wrex saw her first. “Heh, if it isn’t the Shadow Broker. Damn glad to have you at my side for this, Liara.”

James turned slowly to her. Wrex was no fool. He saw the look the young pup gave the doctor. “Heh. I’ll be right back,” he said, and walked away.

Liara wrung her gloved hands together. “James I...”

“Come on, people! Let’s move out!” Shepard called.

James reached out and touched her arm softly. “Be careful, Liara,” his voice was husky, thick with unspoken emotion.

Liara brought her hand to touch his. “Be safe, James.”

James dropped his hand and walked away. He didn’t look back.

***

“There’s a Reaper in my way, Wrex!”

“I know! You get to have all the fun!”

Liara listened to the comm as she helped Mordin with the cure and shook her head.

Eve moaned out, “Were they always like this?”  
Liara nodded. “Yes.”

“Heh!”

“Come on you big bitch! Come at me!” Liara heard James scream. She bit her lip until it was bleeding. 

“Nice shot!” Garrus called out.

“You’re in love with the big one, Vega,” Eve said.

Liara blinked, and stared at the Shaman. “I...”

Eve chuckled dryly. “Wasn’t a question, Doctor.”

Liara tilted her head to the side. “He...was the first person I’ve ever been with. I don’t count when I melded with Shepard because it wasn’t for pleasure. But he...”

“He’s just as in love with you,” the Krogan said firmly.

“He is?”

“Don’t let war blind you, Doctor T’Soni. Take what pleasure you can with what time you have.”

Liara hugged the Shaman. “I will try and take your advice.”

***

“Oorah!” James cried out as the dispersal began. He was standing at the base of the shroud. Then, only a few seconds after dispersal began, there was a huge explosion at the top of the Shroud. 

“Mordin,” Eve said softly. 

Liara felt tears welling up in her eyes. She watched the tower beginning to fall apart. From her vantage point, she had a good angle. And she saw that a huge chunk of the debris was going to fall directly on James. 

“James!” She screamed. She ran with a full biotic charge, something she’d never actually tried before, and pushed him out of the way with all her force. She fell flat to the ground, and looked up at the impending death. “Goddess protect me!” she whispered, and put up the strongest barrier she could muster.

***

One second, James was cheering. The next, there was an explosion. Then he was being pushed out of the way by tingling biotic energy. He turned around and was just in time to watch what looked like a ton of rubble fall directly on Liara.

“No! Dios NO!” He screamed, and scrambled remove the rubble tears stinging his eyes.

Shepard and the Krogan came running over, while Garrus radioed for Cortez to bring the shuttle in for an emergency pick-up. He was sure it would be for a body retrieval, and he felt himself shaking. Everyone that was there, even Eve, cleared piece after piece of rubble off of where Liara had fallen.

James couldn’t see. The salt stung his eyes. He was moaning, calling her name, begging her to be okay. When he saw the barrier, he couldn’t move. Relief washed over him. He sat down and put his hands over his face, smearing dust and carbon with his tears.

The rest got the rubble cleared off. Liara was shaking from the energy drain and lack of air. Eve understood before the rest of them. She pulled Vega’s arm over to her. “Liara, it’s okay, drop the barrier!”

Liara saw James’ face and the barrier dropped. So did she. Her eyes rolled back in her head, her face a pale, pale blue almost white. James cried out in alarm, and picked up Liara’s small body, holding her against his chest.

“She’s exhausted, Vega. But I do believe she will live.”

“Gracias,” James whisper. “Liara? Liara, mi amado? Por favor, abre los ojos. Quédate conmigo.”

He got in the shuttle at Shepard’s urging. Back on the Normandy, Dr. Chakwas confirmed that Liara was just overtaxed. “She just needs to sleep. As long as someone is watching her, there won’t be any danger,” Karin’s voice was a little stuffy from the tears she’d shed over Mordin. “I suggest taking her to her own room. Let her wake up in familiar surroundings.”

James carried Liara to her room, Shepard walking behind him. They entered and Shepard bit his lip, watching as James carefully removed her armour and tucked her under the covers. He sat down heavily on her couch, covering his face with his hands.

Shepard walked over, took Liara’s hand and squeezed it. He reached over to James and patted him on the shoulder. The Lieutenant didn’t look up. “James? Be there for her when she wakes up. Tell her how you feel.”

He felt James shudder. “If she had died...for me...I don’t...”

Shepard sighed sadly. “Trust me, James, I know. But you didn’t see her face when she rushed you. She looks at you the way you look at her. But she’s naive as hell. If you don’t spell it out for her, Liara will never know.”

James quietly shook, clenched his fists against his skull, and nodded. Shepard nodded, too, and walked out of the room, engaging privacy mode.


	9. Chapter 9

James kept his head in his hands for a little while after Shepard had left. He drew his hands together, as if praying. His breathing was ragged. He pressed his lips against his fingers, and looked at Liara’s sleeping form. Some of her colour was starting to return. He felt a rush of relief, but it was tempered with his grief, his fear over losing her. 

When he’d come on the Normandy, he never expected anything like this. That he’d look into the face of monsters, yes. Find his own heart and soul being dragged into the this abyss of heartbreak? No. But he knew the truth. From the minute he’d seen her kick her way out of the ductwork on Mars and kill her pursuers, he hadn’t stopped falling.

James stood up, realizing he was still wearing his armour; and half the dust of Tuchanka. “EDI? Watch over Liara for a few minutes, ‘kay?”

“Of course, James,” Came her soft reply.

It only took James a few minutes to shower quickly and change into clean clothes. He came back into Liara’s cabin. Her breathing was much easier, deeper, and almost all her colour had come back. “Thanks, EDI. Privacy mode, please.”

“Acknowledged.”

He stood at the foot of her bed, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth. James closed his eyes, and slid off his t-shirt, and his fatigues. Still in his skivvies, he walked over to the side of the bed. He took off his socks after a few seconds of thought. Moving the soft blankets aside, he slipped in beside her. His weight moved the mattress. She rolled against him, murmuring softly.

James wrapped her gently in his arms, settling her head on his chest. He put his cheek against her crests, and began to hum a lullaby his Abuela had taught him as a child. He didn’t know how long he spent there, holding Liara’s sleeping form, singing in his deep baritone. At times, though, his voice would break with tears, but he didn’t notice that either.

Finally, he felt her stirring, her head nuzzled against his chest. She groaned softly. tilting her head up, her eyes fluttering open. “James?” she whispered.

“Si,” he answered quietly.

“You,” she swallowed hard. He reached out to the glass of water on her bedside table and gave her a sip. “You were singing to me,” she finished. 

“Yes,” he put the glass back and began stroking her face with the tips of his fingers. 

She felt her eyes fluttering closed at the feeling of his fingers touching her like that. “James, what...”

His fingers brushed her lips. “Liara,” he cupped her face so she was looking at him. “Liara, I love you.”

Liara started trembling. “James,” her voice was soft. 

It was just his name on her lips, but the way she said it, James didn’t think a declaration of love could be any clearer. He moaned softly, and brought his lips gently against hers. It was a sweet kiss, at first. Her hands went to his face, tracing his scars. He hissed softly against her lips, they were so damned sensitive! He felt himself hardening. Her touch and kiss was enough. He looked into her eyes, resting his forehead against hers. He licked his lips. This time he felt the reaction it had on her; the way her body quivered in response.

Liara traced the path of his tongue with her own. James’ eyes closed and he shuddered, moaned. She pressed her body against his. “Goddess, James,” her fingers dug into his shoulders. She pushed her open mouth against his.

James captured her tongue between his lips and suckled it gently before thrusting his own into her mouth. His hands slid down her body, soft as silk. He touched her breasts confined in her bra. He quickly undid the front clasp and opened it to his roaming fingers. He heard her gasp against his mouth as his hands cupped her breasts, thumbs being so gentle as they circled her nipples.

He moved his mouth, kissing along her chin, to her throat as her eyes closed. He nibble a spot he remembered being extra sensitive and was rewarded by her moans and begging whispers. He smiled softly against her skin. She was so responsive in his arms. He rolled her on her back carefully, and pulled back the blankets. His fingers trailed along her rib cage, tensing his body, each of his muscles defined, as he kept himself from rushing her this time.

When his fingers reached the waist of her panties, he hooked them, and slowly brought them down her legs. He put a kiss on each leg as he moved them down to her ankles. When her panties were off, James began to kiss his way back up her legs, parting them with his hand. Liara whimpered, pressing herself against the bed.  
When her legs were open to him, he saw the petals of her sex opening. That scent of flowers and spice of her arousal. He made eye contact with her and licked his lips slowly. He bent down running his hands along her thighs, sliding down on his stomach. He hooked his arms under her hips, bringing his lips closer to her. She wriggled at his teasing. Looking down at him, wide-eyed. 

“I’ve wanted this since the first time I saw you, mi amor,” he whispered huskily. He brought his lips down to her azure. 

The taste of her was intoxicating. Spicy, floral, and she was so wet! He moaned, paced himself, tried to remember he wanted this for her pleasure. He licked each layer of her petals carefully, kissing them, playing with them with his tongue and lips. He heard her sighs, her moans of pleasure. He felt her opening more, as her arousal heightened, her taste intensified. Under his lips, he felt the final layer of petals open. He darted his tongue inside of her, looking up to see her reaction. She arched, eyes fluttering. He could feel the muscles of her thighs shaking. Smiling against her, he brought his thumb to that pressure point she had showed him with her mind. He rubbed it gently, in time to the thrusts of his tongue.

“Goddess!” she cried out. Her hips began to move in time with his mouth and fingers. He stayed with her, adoring her, worshipping her.

He felt her body pulsing. He heard the whimpers as she got closer. He kept his brown eyes on her face. Just as she was about to come, he moved his fingers to suckle gently on that glorious nerve cluster that drove her wild. She screamed his name as she came. He lapped her gently. So wet! He was shaking with the need to be inside her.

Liara reached for him and tried to pull him up. He obliged her, only to be met halfway. She began kissing him wildly. He wrapped his arms around her, groaning. She suckled his tongue, licked his lips. She was grinding against erection. Dios! Tasting herself was driving her as mad as it drove him. One of his hands slide down to her ass, cupping it briefly before grabbing her thigh and lifting her leg around his hip so he could feel her wetness soaking into his skivvies.

He broke the kiss to murmur against her lips. “Dios, Liara.”

She pulled back gently and looked deep into his hooded eyes. “Love you,” she whispered.

He purred softly, kissing her hungrily, before sliding his lips down to her neck again. 

Liara whimpered. “Oh, Goddess!”

James pushed his hand down between them, releasing his cock from the confines of his skivvies. He used his hand to guide himself inside her hot, wet sheath, his eyes holding her gaze. He lowered her down to the bed, resting his weight on his arms so not to crush her. Still looking in her eyes, buried to the hilt inside of her, he whispered, “Sure you can handle being with a man as stubborn as me?” he murmured.

Liara’s eyes closed for just a second, opening again completely black. "I think I can handle you," she whispered then pulled him into a kiss.

The sensation was deeper this time. James was barely conscious of his body as he moved, his hips moving against her, or her hips as they moved against him, her fingernails digging into the flesh of his hips. He could feel his mind, his energy, his soul, melting around the spark in this place of thought and senses that represented Liara. He felt as their energies merged together. The sensations, hers and his, they became so entangled he couldn’t separate himself from her. He never wanted to.

He felt her pleasure mounting. He felt his body react to it. He rolled them both over, felt her rise and fall against him, her hips moving in time to his thrusts. Felt her hands as they pinned his own against the pillows. His head rocking back, he heard himself crying out “I’m going to come!”

Liara moved her hips more, their energies merged together completely in an explosion of light behind his eyes, overshadowing the feeling of their mutual orgasms. Minutes, or hours later, drifting together, Liara was nestled in his arms. She touched his face. “For however long we have...” she started whispering, but he put a finger against her lips.

"We're going to kick some Reaper ass, we're going to free Earth, and we're going to have a ton of little blue girls. Sound good?"

She chuckled weakly. "You don't aim low do you?"

"With you, I think I've got a sure thing going," he murmured, and his lips began exploring her again. That floating feeling was back, like space diving. And he was sure he'd never stop falling.


End file.
